RAM Upgrade Question

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All Killer No Filler

Limp Gawd
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Sep 29, 2005
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I'm looking to upgrade my RAM. I was about to buy these but noticed in the specs that they are "Compatible with Intel LGA1155/LGA1156". I have a GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 motherboard.

Is it true that those sticks would not work with my motherboard? I was under the impression that any 240-pin DDR3 memory would work.
 
Why are you looking to 'upgrade' your memory?

There is no noticeable difference when moving to the faster speeds.
Plus you don't get those upgraded memory speeds with out tweaking the bios a lot.

Max out the board with 16GB memory and call it a day.
 
I take it by "Upgrade' you mean purchase a larger quantity of faster memory - You'll want a 3-DIMM kit, not a 2-pack.

You may need to purchase 2 normal 'kits' (meaning 4 DIMMs) because triple channel isn't really supported commercially any more - It's 1s and 2s in a pack now-a-days, and most of the good stuff only comes in 2 DIMM kits.... Triple channel operation is what you want to maintain, so don't do 2 DIMMs or 4 DIMMs on your board for best performance (being concerned with FPS).

Most DDR3 will work in your system, the lower voltage stuff has timings and is rated for higher (but still standard) voltages without problem. With a BIOS update, your system might even run them at 1.5v, but I believe it will try and force 1.65v. Don't try and grab any of the really low volt stuff, you may run into problem... but 1.5v stuff should be fine.
 
Wizzard said:
I take it by "Upgrade' you mean purchase a larger quantity of faster memory - You'll want a 3-DIMM kit, not a 2-pack.

You may need to purchase 2 normal 'kits' (meaning 4 DIMMs) because triple channel isn't really supported commercially any more - It's 1s and 2s in a pack now-a-days, and most of the good stuff only comes in 2 DIMM kits.... Triple channel operation is what you want to maintain, so don't do 2 DIMMs or 4 DIMMs on your board for best performance (being concerned with FPS).

Most DDR3 will work in your system, the lower voltage stuff has timings and is rated for higher (but still standard) voltages without problem. With a BIOS update, your system might even run them at 1.5v, but I believe it will try and force 1.65v. Don't try and grab any of the really low volt stuff, you may run into problem... but 1.5v stuff should be fine.
Click to expand...

"Upgrade" meaning I only have 6 GB and games are starting to require/recommend 8 GB. I simply need more RAM, not necessarily faster RAM. I should have been a little more clear about that. Also, I forgot about the triple channel memory thing so thanks for reminding me.

I found these, any objections?
 
My X58 setup ran the Samsung low-voltage DDR3-1600 without issue. It did default to running them at 1.5v instead of 1.35, but they worked fine. I used three of the four sticks form two dual-channel packs.

Sometimes you can get a better price by buying dual-channel kits or even single sticks because they are charging a premium for a lot of the triple-channel kits that are out there. There is always the possibility of some instability as a result. It has been debated here on the forums repeatedly and the general consensus was that it works most of the time without issue.

The G.Skill kit you linked is also a fine choice. I've used a lot of their memory for various builds, projects, and upgrades on random PCs. It has proven to be reliable and cheap.
 
DDR3 memory is dropping in price.. and there is so much used DDR3 on the market I wouldn't be stock piling it..
 
Why suggest those when the 16GB (4x4) I linked is $115?

There's no reason to stockpile it but it doesn't make sense to pay more money for less RAM.
 
Quartz-1 said:
The motherboard specification page says it takes 1.5V DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz RAM. And up to 4 GB per DIMM. So NewEgg's 8 GB DIMMs will not work.
Click to expand...

You're wrong. Lots of people use 8GB sticks in X58 boards just fine. They weren't out at the time and a manufacturer will NEVER bother to go back and re-validate an outdated board for new stick sizes. This is far from the first time that a motherboard has had outdated information about maximum memory listed. Sometimes chipsets do have limitations that the memory standard doesn't - couldn't use 4GB DDR2 sticks in Intel's consumer chipsets for example - but most of the time for consumer memory if the stick exists, it'll work. But in this case you can easily do a forum or Google search and see lots of people using 8GB sticks in X58 boards.

8GB sticks on X58 is generally fine.

Also, LOL at suggesting 2GB sticks. If you've got a DDR2 system that you don't want to upgrade (except RAM) then yes, 2GB sticks. But if you have DDR3, never, ever, EVER buy a 2GB stick today.
 
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